Stalking Statistics
What Stalking looks like in the US:
(Tjaden & Thoennes, (1998). Stalking in America," NIJ.)
- 1,006,970 women and 370,990 men are stalked annually in the US.
- 1 in 12 women and 1 in 45 men will be stalked in their lifetime.
- 77% of female and 64% of male victims know their stalker.
- 87%of stalkers are men.
- 59% of female victims and 30% of male victims are stalked by an intimate partner.
- 81% of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also physically
assaulted by that partner.
- 31% of women stalked by a current or former intimate partner are also sexually assaulted
by that partner.
- 73% of intimate partner stalkers verbally threatened the victims with physical violence,
and almost 46% of victims experienced one or more violent incidents by the stalker.
- the average duration of stalking in 1.8 years.
- if stalking involves intimate partners, the average duration of stalking increases to 2.2
years.
- 61% of stalkers made unwanted phone calls; 33% sent or left unwanted letters or items;
29% vandalized property; and 9% killed or threatened to kill a family pet.
- 28% of female victims and 10% of male victims obtained a protective order. 69% of
female victims and 81% of male victims had the protection order violated.
Sexual Victimization of College Women (Fisher, Collins, & Turner, (2000). "The sexual
victimization of college women." NIJ, BJS.)
- 13% of college women were stalked during one six to nine month period.
- 80% of campus stalking victims knew their stalkers.
- 3 in 10 college women reported being injured emotionally or psychologically from being
stalked.
Stalking and Intimate Partner Femicide (the murder of women) (McFarlane et al. (1999).
"Stalking and Intimate Partner Femicide," Homicide Studies.)
- 76% of femicide victims had been stalked.
- 67% had been physically abused by their intimate partner.
- 89% of femicide victims who had been physically abused had also been stalked in the 12
months before the murder.
- 79% of abused femicide victims reported stalking during the same period that they
reported abuse.
- 85% of attempted femicide cases involved at least one episode of stalking within 12
months prior to the attempted femicide.
- 54% of femicide victims reported stalking to police before they were killed by their stalkers.
Impact of stalking on victims (various above sources)
- 56% of women stalked took some type of self-protective measure; often as drastic as
relocating (11%)
- 26% of stalking victims lost time from work as a result of their victimization, and 7% never
returned to work.
- 30% of female victims and 20% of male victims sought psychological counseling.
- the prevalence of anxiety, insomnia, social dysfunction, and severe depression is much
higher among stalking victims than the general population, especially if the stalking
involves being followed or having one's property destroyed.